Your kids can be a part of a world record

One of my son’s favorite things to do is look at world-record books and scheme about how he can be the best ever at something. After not getting my approval for trying to eat the most hot dogs in the world in under three minutes (too gross, dangerous, and expensive), he spent a fair part of a summer day seeing how long he could spin a coin. While that didn’t quite work out for him (though it did for me — it kept him busy!), here is a record that he can contribute to along with other kids.

A nonprofit educational group called Jumpstart is sponsoring its fourth annual Read for the Record event tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 8). People all around the world are encouraged to read the same book, Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” to kids that day. The group’s hope is that one million children will hear that book. (The previous record, which was set last year, was 700,000 kids listening to “Corduroy.”)